The Devil of Lacunosa
by TheRedRequiem
Summary: A PMD based story. The tale of Morte and Lilim, a Cubone and Torchic with a lot to learn about the world they live in.
1. Chapter One

The Devil of Lacunosa

Chapter One: Loss of the Frost

In the depths of Lacunosa forest, the mysterious creatures known as pokemon live in the small village of Tao. With wonderfully crafted houses made of mortar and sticks, hand painted in colourful swirls by common Smurgles. Small shops owned by Kecleons, Persians, Kangaskans and many more little the small streets. Among the wonders of the pokemon marketplace, smaller pokemon cause mischief.

* * *

><p>A young cubone named Morte hastily toddles after his friend, a Torchic named Lilim, carrying a small sack full of pecha berries. An angry Kecleon chases after them both,<p>

"STOP! THIEVES!

Lilim looks over her shoulder, almost leaping out of her skin when she sees the angry store clerk chasing after her and Morte. She squawks loudly,

"MORTE! HURRY! WE CAN'T STOP NOW!

Morte, panting and switching hands to keep hold of the sack, briefly thinks how Lilim would like it if she was told to hold a bag of berries when she had a big head and little arms. But he stops all thoughts when both collide with what seems to be a very large purple brick wall.

* * *

><p>"You alright, little one?<p>

The first thing Morte sees upon opening his eyes is a very large pair looking back at him, the right one with a large scar running through it. The purple face is covered poorly by torn and sandblasted fabric, but the prominant horn of a Nidoking quickly gives away the other pokemons identity. Fearing the worst, Morte scrambles to his feet, only to see the pokemon he ran into stand up at its full height, looming over Morte like a mighty tree over a flower. The Nidoking is strange in appearence though, covered head to toe in the same sandblasted and torn fabric, where skin and fur are visable, bandages are strewn over. In the Nidokings right paw, Morte can see Lilim struggling and fighting to get free. The Nidoking is the first to speak,

"I said, are you alright, little one?

Morte gives a dumb nod, too scared to even break eye contact with the large purple pokemon. Lilim struggles and pecks at the Nidokings paw after seeing the angry Kecleon catching up to them.

"LET GO OF ME YOU PALOOKA! LET GO!

The Nidoking looks down at Lilim, and for a second Morte thinks that the purple pokemon will eat her.

"GIVE ME BACK THOSE PECHAS IMMEDIATELY!"

The Kecleon stops at the Nidokings feet, obviously out of breath as it's tongue lolls out of it's mouth, it's face a bright red.

The Nidoking looks down at Morte, then up at Lilim in his right paw. He seems to smile under his veil.

"I'll pay in full for the berries, how much?

The Kecleon, slightly taken aback is livid.

"NO! These children have parents who can pay for such! Do not think them street urchins who never see a proper meal!

Now it's Nidokings turn to look perplexed and surprised, but then his eyes seem to give away a hint of anger.

"I said. I'll pay for them. How much?

Both Morte and Lilim look down at the confused and bumbling Kecleon, who seems at a loss for words.

"S-Six hundred for the lot!

The Nidoking places Lilim on the ground gently, reaching up and behind his neck to pull a sachel from one of his horns. Tossing it at the Kecleon, he seems to smile again.

"I'll take these two to their parents, enjoy your day"

With no warning, the Nidoking swoops down his arms and gather the two small pokemon up. He places Lilim on his right shoulder, and Morte on his left. The Kecleon nods dumbly,

"I-I will! Thank you! And yout two! Don't think I won't tell your parents if he doesn't!

Both Morte and Lilim cringe at that, but don't say a thing. Nidoking nods slowly,

"I'll be on my way now, goodbye"

The trio then started walking back down the marketplace.

* * *

><p>Lilim, never one to be too quiet for long, chirps loudly into Nidokings ear,<p>

"Hang on! We don't even know you! How do you know where we live?

The Nidoking gives a slight pause before turning to look at her,

"Well, I don't. So tell me"

Lilim, flustered and annoyed, pecks at his ear, tugging the fur while Morte just stares at her as if she's a moron. Nidoking seems to ignore her and turns to Morte,

"Where do you live, little one?

"A-At the dojo...s-sir"

"Alright, can you point out the way there?

Morte nods rapidly and points a little further down the market,

"W-we take a left and then walk a little further, my dad lives there"

The Nidoking gave a gruff grunt and made his way through the crowd of smaller pokemon. Lilim fiercely glared over the Nidokings head at Morte, whispering none too quietly.

"Why are you telling him? You WANT to be in trouble?

Nidoking leaned his head back a bit and gazed at Lilim,

"Little lady, he's doing the right thing, do YOU want to be in trouble?

Lilim went bright red, or as bright red as a Torchic can go with orange feathers. Nidoking then turned to Morte,

"You two don't seem in dire need of these berries, why did you take them?

Morte could only lower his head in shame before Lilim chirped up again,

"We don't need the berries! We just need the training! Morte's dad won't let us train in the dojo and no other pokemon want to fight!

Nidoking seemed to scowl slightly under his veil,

"But you were just running away"

"EXACTLY! You got in the way before old man Kec could even start trying to tongue lash us! We normally just hit him with a few embers and bones and he's down for the count!

Nidoking, pausing at the word "tongue lash" and chuckling, turned to look at Torchic,

"So what do you do with the berries afterwards?

Lilim blushed and turned away a little,

"W-we eat them"

Nidoking seemed to chuckle,

"Explains why yer bellies are so round"

Lilim fluffed herself up,

"ARE YOU CALLING US FAT?

* * *

><p>After a while of Morte trying to calm Lilim, who was still yelling abuse at Nidoking, the three stopped infront of the dojo.<p>

Nidoking places Morte down on the ground,

"Call yer dad out kiddo, I'll hold yer friends as ransom otherwise"

Morte jolted upright and ran inside. The room was thick with smoke from the fire his father Marowak insisted on burning every day. He called out meakly,

"D-Dad? Can you come outside?

A gruff voice from the back replied with a grunt, and slowly Marowak pulled himself out of the mass of paperwork in the small private room he and Morte lived in.

"What's wrong? Someone faint in one of the mazes again?

"N-No, dad, um...can you follow me?

"...You been stealing from Kecleon again, boy?

"..."

Marowak sighed and patted his sons head,

"Did Lilim drag you into it?

"N-NO!

He smiled, touched by his sons fierce loyalty to the tomboyish Torchic. Both father and son walked out of the dojo.

The old Marowak was given quite a start to see a scarred Nidoking drapped in bandages and a cloak sitting outside his dojo, with Lilim sqwaking and yelling into it's right ear. He gave a small sigh,

"Um...I take it you bailed my son and his friend out then?

Nidoking seemed to smile under his veil,

"It was nothing, I'll let you do the telling off part."

Marowak shook his head,

"How much?

"600 poke's worth of Pecha Berries"

"What?

Marowak swiftly smacked Morte upside his head, giving a small scowl. He looked up at Nidoking,

"I'm sorry! I will pay you back in full"

Nidoking shook his head,

"It's quite alright, I'll just keep the berries"

"WHAT?

Lilim squawked again loudly into Nidokings ear,

"Why are you taking our berries? We were the ones who got them!

Nidoking silenced her with a glare,

"And who paid for them, little miss?

Lilim, who while hotheaded and angry did not want a death wish, piped down and lowered her head. Marowak sighed and looked up at Nidoking again after patting Mortes shoulder,

"There must be some way I can repay you?

Nidoking placed Lilim down on the ground and stared back at Marowak,

"Well, there is something you can help me with"

Marowak nodded,

"What is it?

"Information"

Marowak stared at the Nidoking before looking at Morte and Lilim.

"Head inside you two"

Both small pokemon did as he said, and quickly hid behind the door of the dojo.

Marowak placed his bone cane infront of him and leant on it, looking up at Nidoking.

"What information do you need?

Nidoking smiled and lifted his veil from his face, revealing how long the scar on the right side of his face was. It ran from the top of his brow to his lower jaw, but nothing came to Marowaks mind that could make such a wound.

"There's a pokemon I'm looking for, a shiny Typhlosion with bright blue eyes. She also has a long horizontal scar along her muzzle."

Marowak blinked,

"I haven't seen any pokemon like that."

Nidoking nodded,

"I'm partially happy you haven't"

"Why is that?

Nidoking straightened up, pulling the small bag of pecha berries onto his back with little effort. He nodded with a small smile,

"I'll be going now, thank you for your help"

"Hang on!

Nidoking stopped from turning and looked back at Marowak,

"Yes?

"If I may be so bold, what is your name?

"...Alabastre"

* * *

><p>The next morning, there was nothing but ash and smoke. Lots of it. Lacunosa forest had practically been burnt to the ground. Marowak and shaken Lilim and Morte up early, telling them to get out of the dojo. He hastened off the the village council after telling the two small pokemon to stay put.<p>

A large group of pokemon waited at the edge of a large pool of water, where the Elder Politoad sat, looking rather upset. A large Serperior was first to speak,

"I say that it was the Nidoking from yesterday in the cloak, he only came to town for one day, and suddenly this fire happens!

A familiar voice pitched in as Kecleon leapt up in the air to say his piece,

"But he couldn't have done it! That pokemon was far too nice to have burnt this place down!

"What makes you call him nice? you little rata-!

A burly Raticate butted in,

"BEFORE YOU EVEN MAKE THAT RACIAL REMARK. I'd like to say that I saw that Nidoking playing with the children yesterday, he didn't seem the type to do such destruction"

Kangaskan chimed in,

"He was very nice to my little boy"

She smiled down at the baby in her pouch, who dumbly smiled and gawped at her. Serperior glared venomously,

"SO he could be psychotic with a soft side for children! I just think that makes him WORSE"

As the commotion grew, Marowak only looked at the silent Elder Politoad, who was staring at the grass sadly.

Marowak quited down the others and waddled up to Politoad,

"Elder?

Politoad reached forward, and plucked a blade of grass from the ground.

"The frost is gone"


	2. Chapter Two

The Devil of Lacunosa

Chapter Two: Kyurem

The council looked around, Politoad was right, there was no frost on the grass. Serperior barked,

"Of COURSE there's no frost on the ground! We had a bloody great fire here!

Marowak shook his head and picked upa blade of grass himself,

"Even when Magmar at the bakery accidently burnt down his house, there was frost the next morning"

Everyone went silent, no one had an explaination for the frost being gone.

Politoad stared up at Marowak,

"Can you take out our best rescue team with me, please?

Marowak blinked and nodded,

"Yes, Elder Politoad"

"I want you to come along too"

Marowak nodded,

"Of course"

* * *

><p>Back at the dojo, Lilim paced up and down restlessly as Morte stared at the sky.<p>

"Does he honestly just expect us to wait here? I'm off!

Morte tried to plead but Lilim had already headed off at a break neck pace, so dumbly, he followed behind her.

The great gourge in Lacunosa was burnt black, Lilim and Morte dashed round it, trying to see if they could find anything green and living there. A lone large grey thing lay in the middle of the gourge, dismissing it as just a large oak that had fallen and burnt almost to ash, Lilim decided it was a good place to sit her rump. That is, of course, until Marowak, Elder Politoad and the local rescue came along.

"LILIM!

Marowak barked at the young Torchic, making the small chick pokemon lose her hold and tumble backwards and off the fallen oak. She stood up quickly to gaze like Morte at Elder Politoad, who immediately ran to the great grey object and ran his small yellow fingers over it. A mournful look on his face.

"Kyurem has fallen..."

The rescue team froze, even Marowak stood wide eyed at Politoad. Morte could only exchange glances with Lilim before a worried looking Noctowl spoke up,

"Th-that's impossible, right? I-I mean, Kyurem was practically a god!

"But for someone to take down Kyurem...that's impossible for one pokemon, right?

The council stared worriedly at Politoad, who was still stroking his fingers over the burnt carcass of Kyurem. Marowak hurridly trundled up to Morte,

"Did you see anything? Are you both alright?

"We-We saw nothin'...Dad..."

"Yes?

"What is Kyurem?

While Marowak could have smacked Morte for his ignorence, Politoad spoke,

"Kyurem is what we could call a Legendary pokemon, m'boy. The fact someone even found him is highly worrying indeed."

"Elder Politoad, why would someone want to hurt Kyurem?

Politoad lifted a small yellow hand to wipe his weeping eyes,

"...I have no clue, m'boy..."

It had been decided that the next few days would have Marowak, Serperior and the rescue team survey the area and try to find any clue as to what may have befallen Kyurem.

Marowak, of course, was more worried by the two idiots at his feet. He lightly gave a smack to both of them with his bone club.

"And WHAT would have happened if the same thing that had killed Kyurem got you two? huh? Did you think of that?

Lilim, rubbing her little head poorly with her short wings, chirped back,

"THERE WAS NOTHIN' THERE! NOTHING WOULD'VE HAPPENED!

Marowak chose to smack them both again, and Morte gave out a small whimper this time. Marowak sighed and sat down infront of them before pulling Lilim and Morte into a tight hug. Morte could feel his father shiverring a little, and tightly hugged the Marowak back.

"T-Tomorrow, I'm going to start training you both how to fight, ok?

"Really?

Lilim leapt out of the hug with a look of absolute glee on her face, but Morte could only stare up at his father, who had his eyes tightly shut.

"Yeah...really"

* * *

><p>Morte adjusted his grip on his small bone club before launching himself at Marowak again, only to be easily deflected by his fathers free hand. Lilim was fairing no better, as all her embers, scratches and pecks didn't even seem to phase Marowak in the slightest. Morte took the oppotuinity to switch paws and try hitting his father with the small bone club again. Marowaks head jarred sideways a little when the bone club met his left ear, and he smiled.<p>

"You're getting better!

Morte smiled back under his bone mask, and pulled away from his father to give himself time to think of his next attack. Lilim, not one to be shown up by her friend, fluffed herself up before headbutting Marowak under the chin, making the older pokemon drop his bone cane.

"Alright! Alright! I give!

Marowak smiled before resting a hand on Lilims head and ruffling her feathers. Morte smiled and ran up to his father, delivering a tackling hug to both Marowak and Lilim, who chirped in protest. Marowak laughed a little and patted Mortes head lightly, smiling widely as his son nuzzled his small bone covered face into his scales.

"Mortimer"

The trio jolted and Marowak looked up to see Serperior staring down at him.

"Oh, hello Juniper~

Serperior gave a small hiss before curling herself up to imperiously stare down at Marowak and the two smaller pokemon.

"We'll be heading out later to look around Kyurem again, I hope you'll be joining us?

Marowak smiled dumbly at Serperior and stood up, rubbing the back of his head with his right paw before bending down to pick up his bone cane.

"Ah~ Yes, of course. The thought almost escaped me"

Serperior scowled,

"Almost ignored you altogether I should think! You should be getting ready, not playing around!

Lilim puffed up and sqawked loudly at Serperior,

"We're TRAINING! Are you blind, you belly crawling-!

"Training you say?

Serperior gave a smile that almost made Marowak want to drain his bladder. She looked down at Morte,

"Then allow me to give you a hand~! Mortimer, teaching these two will limber me up~"

Marowak looked down at Morte, Lilim hurridly jumping up and down and beaming at him while Morte just looked beggingly up at his dad. Marowak gave out a sigh,

"I guess I have no choice"

"Yay~!

* * *

><p>Serperior was a lot tougher on Morte and Lilim than Marowak, the large snake pokemon choosing to often to attack both small pokemon with her whip like tail and terrible grass tornado. Marowak was now actively chaning sides, while attacking Lilim and Morte, he would often bounce off the extra attack Serperior was adding in with his bone cane. It was not long before all four pokemon were exhausted, and Serperior was now being mercilessly tickled by Marowak and Morte while Lilim chirped and giggled behind them.<p>

"Hahahahahahahahahaha~ Noooo! Stop~!

"Fair's fair, Juniper, you lost"

"Ahhh~ Noo! I don't have any arms! This isn't fair~!

Both Marowak and Morte pulled away, still laughing slightly and grinning at Serperior, who smiled back while panting out her laugh.

* * *

><p>The day ended when Serperior and Marowak were called away by the rescue team. Leaving Lilim and Morte to their own devices.<p>

Both small pokemon were leaning against a large oran tree, Lilim resting her chin on Morte's left shoulder, Morte looking up at the pale blue sky. He wondered what his dad and Serperior were doing, and then wondered about the strange Nidoking he and Lilim had met before the fire. He thought about the long veritical scar that had run over the left eye of Nidoking, and what could have made such a mark. Morte's dad had a few small knicks and scratch like scars from fighting, but nothing as severe looking as Nidokings. He looked down at Lilim,

"Hey, Lily"

"Hm?

"What do you think caused that Nidoking's scar?

The little Torchic sat up right and looked up at him,

"I dunno, maybe he got into a fight with another really large pokemon?

"Like Kyurem?

Lilim seemed to ponder the thought, then shook her head,

"That scar looked old, and he left before we found Kyurem yesterday"

"Ah...yeah"

Morte chose to look back up ath the sky again, and Lilim leant back against him. She cooed softly,

"Y'know, I wonder what that Nidoking and your dad spoke about"

"Hm?

"Y' know? When your dad sent us inside to talk to Nidoking? He said he wanted information, remember?

"Do you think he wanted information on Kyurem?

"Jeez Morte, pay attention! I already said Nidoking left before the fire"

"Oh...sorry"

Lilim nuzzled her beak softly into Mortes side,

"I think he knew something"

"But you said that he left before the fire"

"Yeah, but that doesn't mean he's not involved. Otherwise why did he leave so suddenly?

"Maybe he was asking directions for the next village?

"Ah...hadn't thought of that"

Both pokemon sat in silence, happily dozing. Morte wondered what his dad and Nidoking had spoken about, and why Nidoking had left so suddenly. Maybe there was more to it than the purple pokemon just asking for directions, but if it was, what could he do about it? It was better he just left it to the council and his dad. He could only hope for the best.


	3. Chapter Three

The Devil of Lacunosa

Chapter Three: The Librarian, Benji

It had been a couple of days, and nothing had been recovered from the scene of Kyurems demise. Morte had left Lilim back at the dojo after training that whole morning with a small group of Poochyena that had wanted to join in.

* * *

><p>The small cubone ran his small claws over the pages of the red leather book stupidly entitled "Legendary pokemon and you". After gawking at what could only be called a brassiere on a male Lugia, and almost laughing out of his chair at how dumb and funny Entei looked in an old photograph where the legendary beast pokemon had been covered in bows and flowers by the villages children. Morte looked further through the entries until he came onto one that literally sparked his interest.<p>

Raikou, the thunder pokemon.

Morte read onwards.

Raikou, one of the three legendary beast pokemon. He is well known for his ideas against the interbreeding of different pokemon. Having gone as far as killing several children and parents who had been of so called "unclean blood lines". The last known case was that of a couple in the Johto region, who's names will not be given away due to privacy issues, who young child died after being practically mawled by Raikou.

Morte scowled a little, he knew that the interbreeding species of pokemon was strictly taboo, and frowned upon by the elders of society, but he never thought anyone would be killed over it. It almost disgusted him as much as the fact no one had even attempted to subdue Raikou for killing them.

"Terrible, isn't it?

Morte jumped out of his chair at the velvety voice of a Lopunny staring over his shoulder. The rabbit pokemon flipped one long pink ear behind his shoulder and looked at Morte with his pink on black eyes,

"To think some pokemon are still so old fashioned"

Morte nodded dumbly, and the Lopunny smiled.

"My parents were a Lopunny and a Blaziken, y'know? So I always found the idea of "pure bloods" ridiculous"

Morte was a little scared that the Lopunny would so openly talk about a taboo subject, even more to tell him he was the result of said taboo. But he pushed it aside when the Lopunny spoke again.

"My name is Benji, I'm the Librarian."

Morte was still nodding dumbly,

"M-Morte"

"Nice to meet you, Morte"

"N-Nice to meet you too"

Benji stood upright and walked over to the shelf to the left of Morte,

"I take it you're trying to look up Kyurem after the incident a few days ago, right?

Morte nodded, and Benji smiled and took down a large green book with "Twin Dragons" written on it in old gold letters. The Lopunny moved the little red book to the side before laying down the large green book, quickly shifting through the pages to find the passage on Kyurem. Morte gasped at the painting of Kyurem, in all its glorious grey and pale blues. Benji smiled down at the young cubone,

"Do you remember the two dragons? Reshiram the White and Zekrom the Black?

Morte nodded slowly, Benji continued,

"Both Reshiram and Zekrom were said to originally come from Kyurem, it's said that Kyurem was once the unified power of two human kings, and that when the twins fought, their power was divided, and Kyurem broke in two, creating Reshiram and Zekrom"

Morte stared up at Benji, who smiled back.

"It does seem a little far-fetched, doesn't it? But it's true."

The pink Lopunny looked back down at the book,

"Kyurem is just what we know the original dragon pokemon to be now, we don't know his name before the twins divided their power. But it said that he still had the original combined mind of Zekrom and Reshiram."

Morte nodded and stopped Benji from turning the page by resting his small hands on the Lopunnys'.

"Do you know of anyone who would want Kyurem dead, Benji?

Benji blinked and shook his head,

"I think anyone who knew of an enemy of Kyurem would have gone to find them by now, the fact that there is no known enemy of Kyurem means we have no leads as to where to look next, and everyone seems keen to blame that Nidoking that came to town the day before"

Morte whined,

"He didn't do it!

Benji blinked and patted the small cubones head,

"It's alright, I wasn't accusing him, I think the other pokemon just want to blame it on someone they don't know rather than eachother"

Benji smiled, and Morte instantly smiled back, finally! A pokemon who didn't think it was Nidoking.

Ting! Ting! Ting!

A small Chimaling came in and knocked itself against Benji's right ear, the Lopunny smiled and stood up.

"Ah, Tink. Can you look after our little friend here? I'll go check on them straight away"

The Chimaling tinged happily and smiled open mouthed at Morte, who smiled back as Benji walked away, pink furred ears bouncing behind him. Morte almost thought it a bit funny that a male Lopunny was cursed to look female anyway, and then had the double insult of being pink aswell. Chimaling rested itself on Morte's head before giving out a ringing cry for attention.

Morte reached over his head and brought the small pokemon eye-to-eye with himself, smiling happily. Chimaling chimed again and wriggled with its' little red and white wings. Morte let Chimaling go and watched the small bell pokemon flitter and chime its little bell at him happily.

"Tink! Can you find me another blanket please?

Chimaling chimed noisily and pulled Morte from his chair, tugging on his small paws. Morte, more confused than afraid, followed the little bell into a corridor, where immediately he was hit by something heavy, pink and very soft. He could hear Chimaling rattle angrily over his head and he picked himself up, looking down at the pink blanket Chimaling had dropped on him. Morte looked up at Chimaling,

"You want me to take this to him?

Chimaling chimed and flittered in the air happily at him, Morte nodded and picked the blanket up.

"Can you show me where he is?

Chimaling seemed to roll its' eyes at him and tugged his nose down the corridor. Morte followed hurridly until he came to a white door.

"M-Mister Benji?

"Yes, yes, come in, come in"

Morte slowly pushed the door open and saw Benji huddled over his straw covered nest, looking down at what seemed to be a smaller nest of mutlicoloured blankets. Benji turned to him with a smile,

"Well? Bring them over then, Morte"

Morte nodded and toddled over to Benji, who took the pink blanket off him and placed it on the blanket nest, arranged it softly around the edges. Morte stood on his toes and peered into the nest excitedly, smiling happily to see three baby Zorua snuggled up together. Two of them were the normal black and red, the third being black and a fine azure blue. Benji smiled down at him while stroking the ear of the little blue Zorua,

"This is Molly, the other two are Morrigan and Rick"

Morte looked up at Benji, then back down at the baby Zorua.

"Are they yours?

"Mhm, their mother is out of town so I'm looking after them"

"Does she look like them?

"Mhm, she's a Zoroark, after all"

Morte smiled and petted Molly limply as Benji patted and stroked Morrigan and Rick. Benji smiled,

"These guys are gonna be a handful as they get bigger, can I expect you to play with them, Morte?

Mortes' eyes lit up, and he nodded happily. Benji grinned back and patted Morte.

* * *

><p>It was evening when Morte got back to the dojo, Lilim and Marowak were already seated at the small fire in the middle of the room. Lilim stared at him happily while Marowak seemed a little uneasy. Morte smiled,<p>

"Sorry I was out so long"

"Nevermind that! I heard you saw Benji's babies!

Morte looked at Lilim, who beamed back at him. She chirped happily,

'They're sooooo cute~! and Benji seems so happy too"

Morte smiled at how enthralled Lilim was at the mere thought of baby pokemon. It was adorable to see the chick pokemon acting so girly. Marowak coughed in his hand,

"So you were at the library, huh?

Morte nodded and sat down opposite his dad. Marowak looked slightly concerned,

"I wanted to wait for you to both sit down before I said anything"

Morte and Lilim both looked at Marowak,

"...We've still no leads to what killed Kyurem, whatever did it produced more heat than Torkoal and Magmar combined. The only thing that is currently on offer is what Nidoking told me before he left"

Morte blinked, so Nidoking was connected to the fire? He saw Marowak give out a small sigh,

"I haven't told the council yet, and I want you to keep your mouths shut. But Nidoking said he was looking for a shiny Typhlosion."

"Typhlosion is a fire pokemon, right?

Marowak nodded at Lilim,

"If this Typhlosion is what caused the fire, we have to find Nidoking and get him to tell us what he knows"

Morte sat back and scowled at his dad,

"Why haven't you told the council this?

Marowak shook his head,

"We all know Juniper would be quick to assume Nidoking is the bad guy, so I'm trying to find a way of mentioning it without causing any chaos"

Lilim nodded,

"So when will you mention it?

"I'll mention it in passing to Elder Politoad, he'll know what to do"

The trio nodded, and when the fire died, headed to bed.

Morte couldn't sleep, his mind was buzzing thinking about Benji and his babies, Nidoking and the shiny Typhlosion. But what was plagued his thoughts the most was the thought of Raikou, and how terrified those pokemon must have been when he killed them. If Raikou heard of Benji and his babies, would he kill them too? Morte shivered at the thought.


	4. Chapter Four

The Devil of Lacunosa

Chapter Four: Rubicante

Marowak had mentioned his conversation to Elder Politoad, and the frog pokemon nodded in agreement and said he'd bring it up in the next meeting.

But he still sent Marowak and Serperior with the rescue team to look around Kyurem one more time before the Machops in the area were to help Marowak bury the body.

Flipping a few stones over with his bone cane, Marowak sighed. He knew it to be a waste of time search the area for any clues, there simple wasn't any, and anything that could probably have been used as a clue had been burnt to nothing in the fire. Serperior slithered over to him,

"Mortimer?

"Hm? Oh...hey Juniper"

Serperior scowled and prodded his snout with her tail,

"Are we letting other pokemon onto this site or should we push them away?

"What are you on about?

"Well, it's just there's this odd looking Typhlosion sitting on Kyrem staring at the sky"

Marowaks eyes almost seemed to bulge from their sockets,

"What?

"Just ontop of-! Hey!

Serperior yelled after Marowak as he practically flew in the direction of Kyurem.

Sure enough, there was a red Typhlosion happily seated on the scorched back of Kyurem. Her back pouring out smoke like there was no tomorrow. The rescue team were standing at the feet of Kyurem, not sure whether to try and get her down or just leave her be. Marowak yelled up at her,

"Hey!

The Typhlosions left ear flickered, and she looked down at the rescue team and him with a terrible grin on her face. Marowak saw a horizontal scar running across her muzzle, and froze. Looking at her eyes, they were a bright mad-looking electric blue. Typhlosion gave out a wicked piercing laugh, and leapt down infront of them. She purred,

"Oh~? Have you little rattatas' come to show me where that monster is hiding?

"What?

The grin dropped off the Typhlosions face, and she looked pencively at Marowak,

"I said: Have you come to show me where that basta-"

"MORTIMER!

Serperior slipped over the edge of the crator and angrily slithered up to Marowak,

"Fine way to treat your team mates! Running off by yourself!

Marowak was snapped out of his stupor and stared at her,

"Juniper! Now is not the time to-!

"Don't you tell me what to do! I've had it up to-"

There was a manic laugh, and both pokemon stared at the Typhlosion. As soon as they did, the smile on her face dropped again.

"You are useless to me"

* * *

><p>There was no blood, but a small trail of ash and smoke as Serperior dragged herself towards the town. Her eyes stung with smoke and tears as she limply pulled herself by her teeth along the ground, after another few pulls, she screamed again, hoping this time someone could hear her. There was an uproar, and Kangaskan followed by a Chansey and Elder Politoad rushed out to her.<p>

Serperior hissed and winced as Kangaskan pulled her free of the ground and cradled her, or what was left of her. She stared hazily at Politoad, who was softly stroking her snout with one delicate yellow hand.

"E-Elder...Politoad..."

"Hush now, you must rest"

"N-no! Elder! MORTIMER! Ah-AGH!

Serperior screamed in pain before wheezing with a wince and hissing out again. Her eyes filled with tears as she tried to steady herself,

"T-they're still there! F-Fighting that THING! ah!...that typhlosion..."

The last part of her voice was almost a whisper as Serperior perished by her wounds. Politoad grew very still, his eyes filled with tears too as he placed a hand ove Serperiors face and closed her eyes for her. He looked at Chansey,

"Get everyone you can down there to help Mortimer and the rescue team, let us hope they have not met the same fate"

The Chansey nodded and waddled back as quickly as she could back into town. Politoad looked up at Kangaskan,

"Prepare the funeral for Serperior and have her family alerted immediately"

"Yes Elder Politoad"

As Kangaskan pulled the bones and muscles that were left of Serperiors tail and carried her away, Politoad ran towards the the crator.

It was his fault, all his fault. He knew they could find nothing there, but he sent them back just so he could think of an idea. It was all his fault.

The Elder of the village ran as fast as his little legs could take him, his eyes streaming with tears.

* * *

><p>Morte and Lilim were cradled by Benji as the remains of the rescue team along with Marowak and Serperior were marched through the town. The two young pokemon sobbed against Benji, who could only hug them tightly in return. Morte howled weakly, and a group of Servines and Snivvy's joined in too. Turning to see a Snivvy named Leon next to him, hazelnut brown eyes damp with tears and snout red from crying so hard, Morte left Benji's grip to hug the small green pokemon, who in a state of sadness and confusion, broke into another row of sobs and buried his snout against Mortes' neck.<p>

Elder Politoad insisted that Morte and Lilim stay with Beni, who solemnly complied and held both small pokemon to his chest. Lilim had stopped crying, but was firmly attatched to Morte who was still sniffing and quietly crying into Benjis' fur. His hot wet breath hitching a little as another sob started, and Benji calmly stroked his back.

Benji lays back on his nest, Molly, Morrigan and Rick are sleeping under his chin, Morte and Lilim wrapped in his arms, cradled by the soft pink fur of his ears. He closes his pink on black eyes and dozes lightly, absentmindedly stroking Mortes' bone mask. Morte nuzzles his hand softly and his voice cracks as he speaks,

"B-Benji..."

"Yes?

"W-Who was it?

Benji was silent, unsure what to tell the young cubone. He let out a slow long sigh,

"A shiny Typhlosion...the town are addressing her as "Rubicante" for now...because we don't know her name"

Morte shivered, so his dad had been right to worry about his conversation with Nidoking. Benji tightened his grip on the little pokemon,

"I'm so sorry Morte, I'm so sorry..."

Morte whimpered and nuzzled back against Benji. He scowled against his fur,

"...I wish Rubicante was dead"

This time it was Benjis' turn to scowl,

"It is not good to wish anyone dead, Morte."

"But she killed my Dad! And Juniper!

"...I'm sure there's more to it than what you know, Morte..."

"But she killed-"

"Morte, let's just be grateful that Rubicante did not kill everyone, alright?

"But-"

"Morte"

Morte looked up into the sad but angry eyes of Benji, he knew he had pushed it too far, and he settled himself back into the pink fluff of Benjis' ears.

Tomorrow, a search team for Nidoking would be sent out.

Tomorrow, a mercernary team for Rubicante would be sent out.

Tomorrow, Morte decided he wanted revenge.

* * *

><p>The sky was pale blue, as always in Tao village. Lilim only stared as Morte threw himself at Benji, the little cubone failing to land a hit on the Lopunnys' arm. Benji hopped upwards and tapped Morte with his foot lightly,<p>

"You're too slow, if I had meant it, I would've broken your mask in two"

Morte gritted his teeth and flew at Benji again, swiping wildly at his legs. Benji jumped up again with ease, backflipping out of the way and landing perfectly, his long pink ears flopping at his sides. Lilim fluffed herself up and cheered Morte on,

"C'mon dood! You can do it!

Molly, Rick and Morrigan leant on the side of their basket to look at what was going on. With the combined weight of the baby Zorua, they tipped the basket and fell on their faces. Lilim panicked and started to right the basket and comfort the whimpering Zoruas'. Benji was thrown off by hearing Molly give a whimpering mewl as Lilim placed her back into the basket. Morte took the oppotuinity to smack Benji across the back with his bone club, which snapped in two.

Benji crashed to his knees and cradled his head, while Morte stared at the end of his broken club.

Lilim was a loss for words, her beak wide open in surprise. She dropped Rick into the basket, and the Zorua gave a mewl in protest. Benji gave out a low groan and stood up, shaking his head to clear it. Morte just stared at the back of Benjis' head before speaking,

"SORRY! I AM SO SORRY!

Benji looked over his shoulder at Morte, and smiled,

"It's alright! It's alright! I'm ok!

He turned to face Morte and patted his head,

"That was sneaky, but an effective move"

Morte stared up at Benji, who was still rubbing his head,

"Are you sure you're ok?

"Mhm, though I think instead of me breaking your mask, you've cracked my skull"

"Ah!

Morte seemed to panic at hearing that, and Benji smiled and shook his head,

"I was joking, I'm ok"

Both Lopunny and Cubone turned to look at Lilim and the basket,

"You guys ok too?

"Y-Yes Mister Benji!

Benji gazed down at Morte,

"Your club"

"Huh?

"Your club, it's broken"

"Oh...yeah"

Benji bent down and patted Morte's head,

"Shall we get you a new one?

"NO!

Benji blinked at how loudly Morte yelled at him. The small cubone cuddled the bone club tightly to his chest,

"...Other than my mask, this bone club is the only thing left of my Mom"

"..."

Benji was a a loss for words, unlike Lilim, Morte now had no parents, and he hadn't even concidered asking about his mother. Benji silently contemplated,

"Morte..."

"Yes?

"Would it be too bold of me, to say we should use your fathers bone cane?


	5. Chapter Five

The Devil of Lacunosa

Chapter Five: The Traveller, Alabastre

Morte couldn't look at his dads grave, nor at Benji while he dug it up. As soon as the smell of rotting flesh his his nostrils, he vomited violently, and remembering it was his father making that smell, he sobbed. Lilim could only wrap her small wings round him as comfort as Benji pulled the bone cane free. With little effort, the pink Lopunny quickly buried the body again and cleaned the bone cane free of mud with his arm. Morte felt his stomach lurch again when Benji presented him with the bone,

"I-I can't take it"

"You must, Morte"

Morte reached out for the bone, and tightly gripped the hilt. Pulling it free from Benjis' grip, Morte gave it a small experimental wave to test its weight. It was a lot heavier than his old bone club. But he smiled sadly, it would be the only reminder that came from his father, along with the skull of his mother. It was almost fitting that he had the bones of both parents now.

Lilim let go of Morte, and looked up at Benji, whos' bright pink fluffy fur was now brown with mud and water. She giggled a little,

"we-We should get you cleaned up"

Benji gave a little smile and nodded,

"I am a mess, ain't I?

Morte looked down at his bone cane, then up at Benji,

"...Thank you"

* * *

><p>The rescue team Star, consisting of a Deino, Charmeleon and an Aggron called Missy, pulled themselves through the thick mud of the swamp after the large Nidoking. All their attempts to yell and get his attention short of attacking him had failed, the Nidoking just kept going. Missy grumbled as Charmeleon climbed onto her back, covering her steel plates in thick black goo.<p>

"Do you MIND? I don't need more filth on me!

"Oh shut up, least you don't die if your tail goes out!

"You won't either you dumbass! Get off!

Deino sighed at his team mates fighting again, and he was getting sick of squelching through mud himself. He let out a small draco meteor attack, and the rock smacked the Nidoking on the back of his head. His team mates stopped fighting, as if they almost felt a murderous aura coming from the Nidoking. The cloak coverred pokemon turned round to stare at the rescue team. Both Missy and the Charmeleon ducked into the mud so only their snouts were showing, but Deino held his ground.

The Nidoking stormed up to Deino and stared down at him,

"Is something the matter?

Deino stared up at him defiantly,

"Yes, we require you to come back to Tao village, if you please"

Nidoking shook his head,

"I can't come straight away, but are you prepared to follow me a bit further?

Deino gave a curt nod and followed the Nidoking, leaving his two team mates with their heads in the mud.

Nidoking turned his head back,

"Are you two coming too?

Two small air bubbles of shock replied.

* * *

><p>Cleansing the impurities of the pool with its paw, Suicune raised its head slowly at the appearence of a Nidoking wrapped up in a sandblown and muddy cape, accompanied by a Deino and two very muddy pokemon who were unrecognisable. It smiled kindly,<p>

"And what brings you here, traveller?

Nidoking bowed his head before raising the veil from his scarred face and smiling,

"Good day, I'm here with a warning for you"

Deino stared up at Nidoking before the Suicune gave out a gaffawing short laugh,

"A warning? What here could ever harm me?

"A devil in red fur"

Suicune seemed to pause at that, and scowled down at Nidoking and Deino,

"What do you mean?

"There is a Typhlosion hunting down any pokemon she hears of that is like yourself"

Suicune huffed hautily,

"A Typhlosion? Hunting down?

"She has already subdued Lugia, Entei, Latios-"

Deino pitched in,

"-and Kyurem, sir"

Suicunes eyes bulged, the legendary pokemon rearing its head back,

"Why do you offer warning?

Nidoking looked at Deino, then up at Suicune,

"If my friend here is correct, and Kyurem is dead, then Typhlosion is nearby"

"..."

Suicune nodded, and lowered its head gracefully,

"I give you my thanks, had you not warned me, I would possibly be ash by dusk"

With that, the legendary beast turned head, and ran away.

Deino turned to Nidoking,

"You've been warning the legendaries?

Nidoking nodded,

"I'm surprised Kyurem didn't follow my advice, but I guess my warning came too late. He didn't seem too keen to listen either"

Deino lowered his head,

"Shall we head back to the village now?

"Of course, please, lead the way"

Deino lead Nidoking, followed by the two lumps of mud who continued to mumble and grumble behind them.

* * *

><p>It would be two days before Nidoking was face-to-face with Elder Politoad, and the elder felt a feeling of dread well up inside himself when the Nidoking pulled his cloak fully off and exposed the poorly bandaged cuts and burns, and the long jagged scar over his right eye. Both pokemon sat on opposite sides of the small fire, and the Tao council surrounded them.<p>

Politoad was the first to speak,

"So Rubicante is after the legends, correct?

Nidoking nodded,

"She's searching for a specific one"

"Then why is she also killing off any other pokemon?

"She believes them to either be interferring, or allies to the legendaries"

Politoad swallowed hard,

"Who is she after?

"...I won't give that away"

The council started muttering between themselves. Talk of Nidoking dooming them to die and willing Rubicante on was amoung the loose mouths of several pokemon. Politoad silenced them with a well timed croak,

"Please, can you give us a reason?

Nidoking scowled,

"That pokemon killed my son"

The room was in silence. Politoad scowled and stood up,

"So you wish for the death of this pokemon, because it killed your son? What about the other pokemon?

Politoad raised a hand and waved it round the room,

"Several of these pokemon, have lost dear friends and family, because you refuse to help us stop this Typhlosion from killing one pokemon"

Nidoking rose his head, and puffed a large amount of steam from his nostrils,

"Do you wish to challenge me for my reasons?

"A child has been ORPHANED because of your reasons!

Nidokings ear flickered,

"...Orphaned?

"Yes"

Nidoking stood up and shook his head,

"Was it...a Marowak who perished?

The room fell silent again. Politoad looked up at Nidoking,

"You...you knew him?

Nidoking nodded,

"I only met him once, he seemed like a nice pokemon"

"He was..."

"...how did he perish?

Politoad twitched, and looked at the ground.

"He...there was a rescue team around Kyurems corpse...they had been investigating the area when...Rubicante attacked"

The little frog pokemon shivered,

"Only one pokemon, a Serperior named Juniper escaped, and she perished after telling us what pokemon it was"

Elder Politoad looked up at Nidoking,

"By the time we got there, the Marowak known as Mortimer and the rescue team were little more than..."

Nidoking silenced him with a cough, and looked round the room. He spotted Morte being tightly held by Benji and even silenced by one the the Lopunnys' long ears being stuffed into his little mouth. Leaning over several rows of pokemon, Nidoking plucked Morte from Benjis' grasp. He placed the little pokemon down at his feet,

"I am sorry, little one. I did not think your father would perish at the hands of-"

"WELL HE DID! ALRIGHT? HE DIED BECAUSE OF YOU!

Morte struck out with his bone cane and smacked at Nidokings legs and belly, crying hard as he did so. No one tried to stop the tiny cubone, nobody wanted to. A few pokemon started crying from seeing Morte so upset and angry.

It did not take long for Morte to get tired, and to colapse to the ground. Or would have done, had Nidoking not bent down quickly to catch him.

Nidoking nodded down at Elder Politoad and motioned his head at Benji,

"You, come with me...there is much we must discuss"


End file.
